Electrical resistance space heaters



Oct. 12, 1965 J. c. M EACHRON ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE SPACE HEATERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 23, 1962 INVENTOR.

Oct 12, 1 J. c. M EACHRON ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE SPACE HEATERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25, 1962 T v w INVENTOR. AA/7 C, MCAT/QCA/DO BY I gwm i Q a w United States Patent 3,211,889 ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE SPACE HEATERS John C. McEachron, 8624 S. 34th, Tacoma, Wash. Filed July 23, 1962, Ser. No. 211,644 9 Claims. (CL 219-345) This invention relates to electrical resistance space heaters and particularly to panel heaters which may be of the type characterized by a tempered glass plate which is heated by the passage of electric current through a thin electric resistance element bonded thereto and which converts the heat generated into heating rays which are radiated into space.

An object of my invention is to provide improved mounting means for a heat radiating panel. The mounting means of the present invention is in the nature of an improvement on the mounting means presented in my earlier U.S. Patent No. 2,845,527, issued on July 29, 1958.

An obejct of my invention is to provide a heating device comprising a heat radiating panel and which device can be readily assembled or disassembled.

Another object of my invention is to provide a heater unit of the character described which comprises two major sections, a first or rear section comprising a back pan and a reflector plate cemented directly to the back wall thereof, and a second or front section comprising a pair of parallel spaced end channels structurally connected together by means of a load carrying grill, and a radiating panel supported between such end channels, with the back section being mountable onto a wall or other supporting surface and the front section being removably mountable onto the back section.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a panel heater and mounting means as described and to hingedly mount the front section comprising the radiating panel, the end channels and the grill to the back section comprisingthe back pan and the reflector plate and which hinge means are of a separable character with a minimum number of parts, so that the front section can be readily swung into the back section or readily removed therefrom.

Another object of my invention is to provide a heater of the character described wherein the reflector plate is cemented directly to the back Wall of the back pan and the radiating panel is mounted in a spaced relationship therewith. In the heater disclosed in the aforementioned Patent No. 2,845,527, involving a reflector interposed between the front side of a back pan and the back side of a radiant heating panel, and wherein the spacing or distance between the front side of said back wall and the back side of said heating panel is substantially the same as in the improved heater of the present invention, an air space existed between the reflector plate and the back wall of the back pan. This arrangement proved to be unsatisfactory because the air in such air space heated up and in turn heated the back pan and the wall onto which the back pan was mounted. I have found that by eliminating the reflector plate and locating a reflective surface directly on the front surface of the back plate, parasitic drag is reduced owing to the elimination of two surfaces over which the air flowing behind the heating panel had to contact, namely, the front and back surfaces of the re flector plate. The result was that the flow of convection air over the rear side of the radiating panel was materially greater in the improved heater constructed according to the present invention than in the earlier heater described in Patent No. 2,845,527. Such increase in the air flow resulted in better cooling of the rear side of the radiating panel and in turn a reduction in the undesirable heating of the back pan and the wall on which the same is mounted.

A further object of my invention is to provide a grill which serves both as a structural member for rigidly connect-ing the two end channels together and as a guard for preventing accidential contact with the radiating panel by a bystander.

Another object of my invention is to use corner mounts for mounting the radiating panel into the end channels and to provide clearances between the end surfaces of the radiating panel and the surfaces of each end channel which clearances are unobstructed between such corner mounts so that the air contained within the clearances freely rises to the top of the heater when heated by the radiating panel.

A still further object of my invention is to locate a set of vent openings at the upper end of the face portion of each end channel so as to provide a means of escape for the air contained within the clearances between the end surfaces of the radiating panel and the surfaces of the end channels when such air rises after being heated by the radiating panel.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the accompanying detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a heater em-. bodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view thereof taken substantially on broken line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of one end of the heater showing the end channel, the corner mounting block and the radiating panel in section and the end portion of the grill in plan, said view being taken substantially on broken line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and also showing the manner in which the radiating panel is mounted within the end channels and the manner in which a horizontally extending rail of the grill is aflixed to the face of said end channel;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view, on an enlarged scale, showing the face appearance of one of said end channels, the corner mounting of an end of the radiating panel into said end channel, and the vent openings provided at the upper end of the face portion of said end channel;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary end elevational view, on an enlarged scale, showing the lower portion of an end channel and a hinge clip aflixed thereto;

FIG. 7 is a perspective View of a hinge clip;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner of the radiating panel and a corner mount; and

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view of a modified form of end channel.

Referring to the drawings, the back section of my heater comprises a back pan 10 having a back wall 12 which connects with an upper wall 14 at an obtuse angle. The upper wall 14 connects with a second upper wall 16 which is situated substantially at right angles to the back wall 12. Similarly, a lower wall 18 is provided connecting with the back wall 12 at an obtuse angle and with a second lower wall 20 at an acute angle. The lower wall 20 is situated substantially at right angles to the back wall 12. There are two end walls 22 extending outwardly at right angles from the back wall 12. Preferably, the several elements of the back pan 10 are constructed from a single piece of metal cut and bent to form the structure described.

A reflector plate 24 is cemented directly onto the front face of back wall 12 by a suitable heat resistant cement. The reflector plate 24 is of the same area as back wall 12, and is provided with a rectangular opening 26 at the lower portion of one of its ends, which opening 26 also extends through the back wall 12 and provides a means of access from the front of the back pan to a junction box 28 (FIG. 3) located behind the back pan 12 and within the wall onto which the back pan 12 is mounted. An access plate 30 having a heat reflecting front surface extends over and covers the opening 26 when the heater is installed.

At each end of the back pan 10, there is a lower mounting lug comprising a flat portion 32 secured, as by welding, to the lower wall 20 and lug portions 34, 36 projecting away from the flat portion 32 at obtuse and acute angles, respectively, so that said lug portions 34, 36 are generally parallel to each other and generally parallel to the back wall 12. The lower mounting lugs constitute first portions of separable hinges provided for fastening the heater front section to the rear sectioin.

There is an upper mounting lug at each end of the back panel 10. Each such upper mounting lug comprises a portion 38 which is secured to the upper wall 16, as by welding, a portion 40 which is disposed at an obtuse angle to the portion 38 and a flat portion 42 which is substantially at right angles to the portion 40 and is also substantially parallel to the back wall 12. A hole 44 is disposed in the portion 32 for the reception thereof of a fastening screw 46.

The configuration of the end walls 22 includes a relatively narrow flange 48 (FIG. 1) which is set back a short distance from the outermost edge of the end wall 22.

The front section of my heater includes a radiating panel 50, right and left end channels 52 of identical construction situated at each end of said radiating panel 50 and a grill 54 extending across the face of the radiating panel 50 and rigidly connecting together the end channels 52.

Each end channel 52 has a generally U-shaped cross sectional configuration with the open side extending inwardly and receiving one end of the radiating panel 50. The end channels 52 are each generally defined by a flat face portion 56, a flat side portion 58 and a flat portion 60. In the preferred form of the invention the end channels are formed from a single piece of sheet metal into the shape shown in FIG. 4, wherein the face portion 56 extends outwardly from the plane of the side portion 58 along one side and outwardly from the terminal end of back portion 60 along the other side. The part of face portion 56 which extends outwardly from side portion 58 constitutes a mounting flange and is designated 62. Its function will be discussed later in connection with the assembly of the front section to the rear section.

Grill 54 consists of a plurality of metal rails or bars, some extending horizontally and some extending vertically, the number of which may vary in accordance with the size of the heater unit. As shown in FIG. 2, the top and bottom horizontal rails 64, 66 of grill 54 are provided with U-shaped bends at their ends with the short leg portion of each U-shaped end being rigidly secured to an end of one of s'aidend channels 52, as by riveting or welding. The rails 64, 66 serve as structural members for connecting together in a rigid fashion the two end channels 52. Horizontal rail 68 and vertical rods 70 are not connected to the end channels 52. The centermost rod 70 may on long models beextended and formed insuch a manner as to engage a hole provided in wall 14 to prevent undue deflection over a long span.

Rails 64, 66 are preferably constructed from rolled steel or aluminum bars of rectangular cross section. As most clearly shown in FIGS. and 6, the rails 64, 66 are twisted substantialy at thepoint where they start their span across the front face of the radiating panel 50 so that at their ends, where they are connected to the end channels, the wider dimension is against the face portion of the end channels 52, and in the region of the span across the radiating panel 50, the wider dimension is situated at right angles to the plane of the'face portion 56. This arrangement provides substantial area at such end portions for accommodating a rivet hole and a deep cross section in the span portion for resisting deflection.

The vertical rods 70 are preferably welded to the back surfaces of rails 64, 66, and rail 68 is preferably welded to the front surface of such rods 70. Of course, it is to be understood that a heater constructed in accordance with the present invention but of a larger size than the heater pictured in the drawing will have a greater number of guard rails and may have at least one additional load carrying rail serving to rigidly connect together the end channels 52. 7

Corner support blocks 72 are provided in each of the end channels 52 at the respective ends thereof and are each slotted for receiving and accommodating the one corner of the radiating panel 50 (see FIG. 8). The corner support blocks 72 are constructed from heat resistant material of an elastic or resilient character. Such support blocks 72 support the radiating panel 50 in spaced relationship with respect to the several surfaces of the end channels and also serve to limit movement of the radiating panel 50 in both the horizontal and vertical directions, while allowing necessary expansion and contraction.

As most clearly illustrated in FIG. 6, a hinge clip 74 is provided at the bottom of each end channel 52, and such hinge clip 74 forms a vertical support for the lower corner block 72 of such end channel 52. The hinge clips 74 also constitute second portions of the separable hinges provided for connecting the front section to the rear section and in this connection will be described in greater detail at a later point.

In my earlier heater, which is described in my earlier aforementioned US. Patent No. 2,845,527, a mounting block was provided at the center of each end channel as well as at the top and the bottom. Such mounting blocks were generally U-shaped, and the top and bottom blocks limited vertical movement of the radiating panel while the side blocks limited horizontal movement of such radiating panel. In operation of such earlier heater it was discovered that the air contained within the clearances would heat up and tend to rise, but that its movement would be impeded by the side support blocks. Some of the heated air would remain in the vicinity of the side support blocks and eddy and cause undesirable heating of the heater housing at such areas.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, the clearances .between the several surfaces of the end channels of the improved heater of this invention are unobstructed be tween the corner support blocks 72. Also, an array of vent openings 76 is provided at the top end of the face portion 56 of each end channel 52. During operation of the heater the air occupying the spaces represented by the clearances is heated and rises to the top of the end channel 52 and immediately flows out through the openings 76 into the room rather than being delayed within such end channel 52 and eddying in the zones immediately below the upper support blocks 72 and causing unwanted heating of the mounting blocks 72 and the heater housing.

The air adjacent the front and back faces of the radiating panel 50 in the region between the end channels is also heated and caused to rise. Therefore, an open space is provided above the top edge of radiating panel 50, and the top rail 64 of grill 54 is purposely spaced outwardly from the front face of such radiating panel 50 so that it does not interfere with the flow of air from the bottom to the top of the radiating panel 50 in such region.

As previously pointed out, the lower end of each end channel 52 is provided with a hinge clip 74 and such hinge clip 74 constitutes a second portion of a separable hinge, the first portion of such hinge being the lower mounting lugs 32 provided on the back pan. Each hinge clip 74 (FIGS. 6 and 7) has a bottom portion 77 and a lug portion 78 extending generally perpendicular to said bottom portion 77 and being slightly spaced from and extending generally parallel to the plane of the face portion 56 of the end channel 52. The hinge clip 74 also includes a flange portion 80 extending at right angles to the bottom portion 77 and overlapping a portion of the lower end of the back portion 60 of end channel 52. A second flange portion 82 extends at right angles to said bottom portion 77 in the down direction and fastens onto the rear side of said face portion 56.

An opening 84 is provided at the top end portion of each end channel 52 for receiving and accommodating a screw type fastener.

Preferably, the front and rear sections are separately assembled by the manufacturer and the heater is furnished to the customer as a two sectional unit.

The installation of the heater is extremely simple and can be done with a minimum of tools. The rear section consisting of the back pan 10 and the reflector 24 is first firmly secured onto a wall or other supporting surface by any suitable fastening means. Next, the front section consisting of the end channels 52, the radiating panel 50 and the grill 54 is fastened onto the rear section.

The assembly of the front section to the back section is as follows:

The front section is turned to an acute angle with respect to the rear section and the spaces between the lug portions 78 and the flanges 82 are inserted over the lug portions 34 and the top of the front section is swung toward the rear section until the top portions of the end channels contact the flat portions 42 of the upper mounting lugs and the openings 84 in such end channels 52 are aligned with the holes 44 in such fiat portion. Screws 46 are then inserted through the openings and used to fasten the two sections together. The screws 46 may be of the self-tapping type so that it will not be necessary to thread the various holes mentioned.

FIG. 3 shows that when the heater is assembled the lug portions 78 and flange portions 82 of the hinge clips 74, which are parts of the front section, snugly nest between the lug portions 34, 36 which are parts of the back section. Also, along the length of each end of the heater, the mounting flange portion 62 of each end channel 52 is in contact with a respective mounting flange 48 of the associated back pan end wall.

Thus the front section can be swung into place as indicated and by employing two screws, it and the rear section are connected together. This is obviously a construction which permits ready access to parts when desired, as well as ease in assembly.

The glass radiating panel 50 may be of standard construction and in view of the fact that heat is involved, all-metal parts will be used with the exception of the corner support blocks 72 which are formed of a heat resistant, non-metallic material. The said corner support blocks 72 are preferably formed of a silicone product sold under the trade name of Silastic. This material is somewhat elastic or resilient and will withstand relatively high temperatures and at the same time is an excellent insulator. The insulators so formed have the feel of rubber automobile tires and they have highly desired expansion and contraction characteristics. The said insulators because of the last mentioned property eliminate breakage of the glass radiating panels 50.

In FIG. 3 of the drawing I have shown an electrical junction box 28 so that the electrical conductor 86 may pass through opening 26 and thence to said junction box 28 and there appropriate electrical makeup connections can be made to any suitable source of electrical energy. The access plate 30 may then be installed over such rectangular opening and is held in place by any suitable fastening means.

In FIG. 9 I show an alternate construction of the end channels 52. Such modified form of end channel 52 is made from two pieces rather than one, the face portion 56' constituting the first piece and the side portion 58' and the back portion 60' together constituting the second piece. However, the basic configuration of such end channel remains unchanged, as is clearly evident by a comparison of FIG. 9 with FIG. 4.

To construct end channel 52' the front edge of side portion 58' is bent so that it extends at right angles to the remainder of said side portion 58. Next, the outside edge of face portion 56' is bent back on itself to form a generally U-shaped channel. The front edge portion of side portion 58' is then inserted into such U-shaped channel and the several pieces are rolled together. Of course, the process just described is merely one of many possible ways of joining together the two sections of end channel 52 and is submitted for sake of example only and is not meant to be limitative.

Other modifications might include fastening the reflecting plate 24 directly to the back surface 12 of back pan 10 by means of screws, bolts or other type mechanical fasteners. Or, the reflecting surface might be formed directly onto back surface 12 by chemical or electrical plating methods, or said back surface 12 could be constructed from a highly reflective metal.

Obviously changes may be made in the forms, dimensions, and arrangements of the parts of my invention without departing from the principles thereof, the foregoing setting forth only a preferred form of embodiment of my invention.

I claim:

1. An electrical resistance space heater comprising:

(a) a front section including:

(1) a pair of spaced trough-like end channels opening toward each other and each being composed of a face portion rigidly connected along an edge to a side portion disposed generally perpendicularly thereto, and a back portion rigidly connected along an edge to the rear edge of said side portion and extending substantially parallel with said face portion;

(2) a heat radiating glass panel extending between said end channels, with marginal end portions of said glass panel being disposed within said end channels in spaced relationship to the face, side, and back portions thereof;

(3) grill means extending across the face of such heat radiating glass panel and rigidly fastening at each end to the face portion of an end channel, said grill means being constructed so to constitute a rigid structural tie between said end channels; and

(4) resilient mounting means for said heat radiating glass panel, said mounting means being located substantially entirely within said end channels and being constructed so as to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction of said glass panel relative to the rigid assembly of the two end channels and the grill;

(b) a rear section including:

(1) a back pan having a rear wall, and

(2) a reflecting surface forming the front face of such rear wall; and

(c) means for removably mounting said front section onto said rear section in spaced relationship to said reflecting surface.

2. An electrical resistance space heater according to claim 1, wherein said resilient mounting means of said front section comprises corner mounting blocks engaged in the upper and lower end portions of said end channels, said mounting block including slots in which the corners of said heat radiating glass panel are retained and supported.

3. An electrical resistance space heater according to claim 2, wherein vent openings are provided in the face portions of said end channels adjacent the upper ends thereof and below the upper corner mounting blocks, said vent openings serving to substantially prevent the formation of eddies of heated air in the regions immediately below said mounting blocks.

A 4. An electrical resistance space heater comprising:

(a) a front section including:

' (1) metal end channels,

(2) a heat radiating panel firmly mounted 'within such end channels, and

(3) a grill extending across the face of said heat radiating panel and rigidly connecting together said endchannels, said grill including plurality of elongated structural rails of rectangular cross-sectionrigidly connecting at their ends to the end channels, the widest dimension of said structural rails being situated generally parallel to the face of the heat radiating panel at the respective ends of said structural rails where they fasten to the end channels and at right angles to the face of said heat radiating panel in the span portion between said ends, a plurality of guard rails being fastened to said structural rails, and

(b) a rear section including:

(1) a back pan, and

(2) a reflecting surface on the front face of such back pan.

- 5. An electrical resistance space heater in accordance with claim 4, wherein the portions of said structural rails having their widest dimensions situated generally parallel to the heat radiating panel are each substantially L- shaped and include a short leg rigidly secured to the face portion of an end channel.

6. An electrical resistance space heater comprising a front section including:

(a) a heat radiating panel;

(b) a trough-likeend channel at each end of said heat radiating panel, each end channel being defined by a face portion, a side portion and a back portion, and being open between the face and back portions on the side opposite the side portion, the open portion thereof receiving an end portion of the heat radiating panel;

(c) mounting means constructed of a resilient heat resistant material disposed in said end channels at the ends thereof and confined against vertical and endwise movement by surfaces of said end channels, said heat insulators beingslotted and engaging in said slots the corner portions of said heat radiating panel and supporting the same in spaced relationship to the surfaces of the end channels;

(d) vent openings in the face portions of said end channels at the upper ends thereof and below a mounting, said openings providing a means of escape of air from the spaces defined between the several surfaces of the end channels, a surface of the mounting means, and the marginal portions of the heat radiating panel;'and

(e) grill means rigidly attached at its respective ends to the end channels and constituting a means for rigidly connecting together said end channels.

7. An electrical resistance space heater in accordance with claim 6, said heater further comprising a rear section including:

(a) a back pan; and

(b) a reflecting plate attached directly to the surface of said back pan which faces the heat radiating panel.

8. An electrical resistance space heater in accordance with claim 7, wherein the grill means includes:

(a) a plurality of elongated structural rails of rectangular cross-section having end portions and a span portion intermediate said end portions, the widest dimension of said structural rails being situated parallel to the face portions of said end channels at said end portions of the rails and at right angles to the plane of the heat radiating panel in the span portion, such arrangement providing substantial area at the ends of such structural rails for fastening the same to said end channels and a deep cross-section in the span portion for resisting deflection; and

(b) a plurality of guard rails affixed to said structural rails.

9. In a radiant heater, a rear unit comprising a substantially vertically disposed tray member, having a back panel, and integral protruding side panels, a top panel and a bottom panel, the front edges of said side panels lying substantially in a common vertical plane, and a heat reflector forming the front surface of said back panel; and a substantially vertically disposed front unit detachably connected to said rear unit comprising a combination front guard and structural member carrying at its end portions spaced apart trough-like heater panel supporting channels, said channels opening toward each other and each including a front panel, the front panels of each channel having exhaust vents adjacent the top thereof, two heater panel corner supports disposed in each troughlike channel, the upper thereof being above the exhaust vent for its channel, and an electrically heatable panel carried by said heater panel corner support and disposed generally parallel and in spaced relation to said heat reflector panel of said rear unit, with its top and bottom edge portions spaced respectively vertically inwardly from the front edges of the top panel and the bottom panel of said tray member of said rear unit, whereby air may enter below the bottom of said heatable panel, move upwardly between the heatable panel and the reflector panel, and exit above the top of said heatable panel, and the air entering said trough-like channels will exit therefrom through said exhaust vents in the front panel of said channel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,319,533 10/19 Rice 219-536 1,686,865 10/28 Klotz 219-349 2, 316,699 4/43 Myers.

2,634,361 4/53 Reynolds 219345 2,717,950 9/55 Nathanson 219-345 2,845,527 7/58 McEachron 219-345 2,908,795 10/59 Branstrom 219365 RICHARD M. WOOD, Primary Examiner. 

4. AN ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE SPACE HEATER COMPRISING: (A) A FRONT SECTION INCLUDING: (1) METAL END CHANNELS, (2) A HEAT RADIATING PANEL FIRMLY MOUNTED WITHIN SUCH END CHANNELS, AND (3) GRILL EXTENDING ACROSS THE FACE OF SAID HEAT RADIATING PANEL AND RIGIDLY CONNECTING TOGETHER SAID END CHANNELS, SAID GRILL INCLUDING PLURALITY OF ELONGATED STRUCTURAL RAILS OF RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION RIGIDLY CONNECTING AT THEIR ENDS TO THE END CHANNELS, THE WIDEST DIMENSION OF SAID STRUCTURAL RAILS BEING SITUATED GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE FACE OF THE HEAT RADIATING PANEL AT THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF SAID STRUCTURAL RAILS WHERE THEY FASTEN TO THE END CHANNELS AND AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE FACE OF SAID HEAT RADIATING PANEL IN THE SPAN PORTION BETWEEN SAID ENDS, A PLURALITY OF GUARD RAILS BEING FASTENED TO SAID STRUCTURAL RAILS, AND (B) A REAR SECTION INCLUDING: (1) A BACK PAN, AND (2) A REFLECTING SURFACE ON THE FRONT FACE OF SUCH BACK PAN. 